Tepe rode next to Amanda. "Amanda, I have my ranch. It's my property still, and the government can't take my ranch. We could lock any passageways into the valley and so on. Amanda... I..." Tepe said and then just got quiet. He looked straight towards the mountains. He had anger in his eyess but still something hidden was in the quietness

( sorry i haven't posted in a while so i coudln't reply to your posts)

" i'm sorry if i had disturbed whatever you were doing, it's just that i followed a triver to a tunnel then to here, it was night, so i decide to camp, i wake up wiht a sword to my neck, i mean no harm, by the way, i am Eric Mcknight of the Poisen arrow Tribe, who are you?"

"My name is Autumn O'Reiley," Autumn answered, removing her sword from his neck.

Tepe rode with Amanda and they stopped next to the hut. Tepe looked Amanda and climbed off from his horse. Tepe looked Amanda that was evading to look at his eyes. "Amanda... Iss something else bothering you?" Tepe asked and walked to Amanda. He put his right arm at Amandas shoulder.

" hello Autumn, what si this place, in which you acxt so harsh to strangers?"
* looks around*
" it is a beautiful place"

"Amanda, is there something else bothering you?" Tepe repeated his question and tried to make eye contact with her

Amanda shook her head. "You don't understand, Tepe. The government thinks it owns everything. They don't care who legally owns the land. It belongs to them and they will do with it what they please."

_______________

Autumn smiled carefully thought of her reply to Eric. "This is a valley owned by my sister and I. We are overly protective because we can't stand the thought of it being altered in any way. A friend of ours has built a ranch here as well, seeking a life of peace."

Her smile disappeared. "We have all lived public lives in one way or another and we all want to disappear. This was the perfect place. You are the only person who has found it. We would prefer it if you didn't leave. You can become a ranch hand for my friend if you like. He's been looking for someone to do that job."

"Amanda... I... Uh... I understand that, but... Oh, nothing... I'll be in my ranch" Tepe said and climbed onto his horse. He rode away as fast as he could. He stopped at his small ranch and climbed off from his horse. Tepe let Orion free to go wherever it would want to in the valley, and Tepe himself went to eat into the house.

" i'd like that, although i don't have much farming/ranching skills, since i am a hunter, but i'd be willing to try"
Eric stands up and towers over autumn, but not in a threatening way

Amanda watched Tepe go and followed slowly behind.

______________________________


Autumn watched as Eric stood to his full height. She was surprised at his height, for he hadn't looked so tall while crouched on the ground. Fully expecting that Eric would follow her, Autumn turned toward Tepe's ranch.

Tepe approached his ranch alone, which was a surprise to Autumn. Where was Amanda? For a moment, Autumn pushed this question aside and introduced Tepe to Eric.

"He is willing to help on your ranch," she told Tepe. Then she glanced around. "Where's Amanda? Didn't you two go into town together?"

"Amanda and I separated near the mines. I came here to eat. So, Eric. Nice to meet you. You will get 20 dollars a week and the food you will eat. We shall now on get shifts who goes fishing, takes care of the animals and so on. Welcome to the ranch" Tepe turned towards two hills where Orion was now running freely. He watched as Orion stopped to look towards someone that was approaching. Tepe smiled and turned. "Oh, Autumn, your sister has something to tell you when you find her."

" thank you tepe, i will be most honoured to work with you"

Autumn watched in silence as Tepe and Eric walked away. What could Amanda possibly want to tell her?

" so, what will be my first job, i'd probably be best at catching fish, i had to catch a really big oen that would kill all the fishermen in this small shoreline town, it was a brute"

"I don't really care how big fish you got, I would've shooten the fish as soon as it would surface. So, you could first go train yourself a horse. There's just the right aged male horse. It's in the fencing. There's a sadle on the fence and a lasso on the pole. I'll be in the main house making some paperwork." Tepe said and left Eric to go to the fencing behind the house. Tepe walked into the house and sat down next to a large table where was papers everywhere

Amanda rode into the valley and went straight to her cabin. The door slammed shut behind her. She was not in a good mood and it was in times like these that Wildfire began to resurface. Though she claimed to have a desire to stay away from Wildfire, her wilder side was, at times, a comfort. She stared into the mirror.

"What're you lookin' at?" Wildfire snapped at the mirror. Amanda's wide eyes looked back.

"I'm looking at what I once was," she answered. "I am wondering how I ended up that way."

"You know how it happened," Wildfire retorted. "Royce Peel killed your brother right in front of you, your daddy and your mama. You did the best thing you could think of and shot Peel in the hand, remember? Therefore, here comes me!"

"I shot Mr. Peel because he would have shot me," Amanda whispered. Wildfire snorted.

"Peel's no 'mister'," she snapped. "Never was. You know that. But that's not what I've come to you for. You need me and you know it. Even as we speak, you are beginnin' to weaken. You are becomin' me once more."

"I can't hold on to the valley," Amanda said. "Tepe's ranch and everythin' that the three of us have worked to preserve will be overrun by the government. I feel that something's gotta be done, but we aren't in a place to resist them."

"Not with weak Amanda at the head," Wildfire agreed. "You see? You know you need me. It will not be until you let me out that you will understand what must be done."

"It's always a bad sign when you start soundin' like me and I start soundin' like you," Amanda complained. "It means you're comin' out."

"Is that such a terrible thing?" Wildfire asked, tilting her head to one side. Amanda smashed the mirror with her right fist.

"Yea," she answered, her eyes flashing. "It's terrible bad."

Suddenly, she whirled to see Autumn come in. Autumn smiled at her sister, a favor Amanda/Wildfire forced herself to return. Autumn's eyes took in the shattered pieces of the mirror and she arched her eyebrows.

"Ready for seven years of bad luck?" she asked playfully. She was joking, but Amanda was not in the mood.

"I've already had twenty years of it, what's seven more?" she snapped. Autumn's eyes flew open and she ran to embrace her sister.

"Whatever happened, you must let it go," she said. Wildfire pulled herself away from her sister.

"The mine and all the land around it are being repossessed by the government," she whispered fiercely. "I'm not about to let that happen. We will fight, do you understand?"

"Anything you say," Autumn answered, but her answer was unheard by Wildfire, who by this time had stalked out the door.

Tepe jumped off from his horse and stormed into Amanda's cabin. "Amanda! I found a way to..." He noticed the mirror in pieces. He pulled himself together and stood on the door, looking at Amanda

((ooh... Split personality...Like Gollum/Smйagol))

((Autumn is in the room. Amanda/Wildfire just walked outside. Ya, the split personality is what I was going for and just like Smeagol/Gollum, the more aggressive side has won for the time being.))


Autumn stood in shock at her sister's sudden change in attitude. She vaguely heard Tepe enter the room and turned to face him.

"She broke the mirror," she said. "I joked about bad luck, but she didn't joke. Something is wrong." Her eyes focused on Tepe. "Something is very wrong."

Tepe turned. He watched Amanda walk away. "Ama-" Tepe started but then looked Autumn. He ran after Amanda. "Wildfire! Stop!"

Autumn's face paled when Tepe called Amanda 'Wildfire'. She began to shake her head fiercely.

"No," she moaned. "Please not that. No, no, no, no."

Wildfire, on the other hand, turned to glare at Tepe.

"What is it, McDagger?" she grinned. "Did ya miss me?"

"Wildfire, back up. I wan't to speak with Amanda" Tepe said, closening up on her. "And call me Bullseye when you speak" Tepe said specifically to Wildfire. He glared at her quietly. He showed his anger at Wildfire.
((Hope you don't mind))
"No. Amanda needs me. She won't speak with you"
Bullseye watched Wildfire. "You know what, I have another side too. And it ain't as nice as I am. Now, I want to speak with Amanda!" Tepe shouted, stepping closer and drawing his pistol.
"You won't use that. You would kill Amanda in the same moment you shoot me"
"Maybe, but I know your weakness" Tepe said and put his pistol away. "I know how you will back off. Even for a minute"
Tepe stepped fastly towards Wildfire and kissed her. Wildfire tried Tepe off, but soon Tepe found Amanda kissing him back. They departed from each other and Tepe looked as a sweet smile came to her moth. It was Amanda again.
"Amanda, I found a solution to avoid fighting. Legally, my ranch is it's own property in the valley you and Autumn own. If I buy more land, it will block the way to the mine, so you can mine there still. Allso, I got a message, saying the deputy was killed in a gunfight just after we left. So now there's no-one to evict us until the next deputy will come. Sure, the sheriff is still here, but he's a drunk. He won't give us any problems"
Tepe looked Amandas smile and kissed her again, now a shorter kiss to hear Amanda's answer

"Buy the whole valley," Amanda said. "I don't want the mine, remember? All I want is a quiet place to live. I don't want to be noticed and have my life be a public show."

Suddenly, a smile lit up her face. "I'm gonna have to let Wildfire back out for a minute. I'll make sure she doesn't fight, but I've got an idea she'd do well with."

A fire blazed through Amanda's eyes and Wildfire laughed.

"Now I remember why I kept Amanda around!" she exclaimed. "Bullseye... Tepe, or whatever you want to be called, do you have some explosives?"

((I don't mind if you don't mind:D ))

"I believe so," Tepe answered. "Why?"

"We're gonna need them," Wildfire answered. She followed Tepe to his ranch and he showed her where his explosives were. She took an armful and headed for the entrance to the valley. The entrance tunnel was made of solid rock.

"We just need to close this," Wildfire said. She got straight to work, making holes in the rock tunnel and sliding the explosives into the holes. "You're not gonna wanna be around here when I'm done!"

///2 hours later...\\\

Wildfire grinned as she slid the last explosive into place. She lit the fuses and ran like crazy to get away. Even so, the explosion knocked her off her feet, jarring Amanda back into control. She sat up with a moan.

"Well that's a wonderful piece of work!" she exclaimed sarcastically. "When I said close it, I didn't mean permanently. How are we going to get supplies now?"

"Time for part two of my plan," Wildfire retorted. "You just didn't give me time to finish."

"Well hurry up!" Amanda snapped. "I'm tired of sitting back and watching you blow things to pieces."

"Step two," Wildfire said, "start digging."

"What?" Amanda demanded. "Start digging? What is there to dig to?"

"You see, Amanda," Wildfire explained, "when we first came here, I was in total control... who knows what woke you up? I expected this, if your 'senseless' mind can remember."

Amanda gasped. "Of course! I had forgotten."

"The tunnel!" Wildfire exclaimed gleefully. (Reminds me of Gollum/Smeagol in the Return of the King:D ) "It leads out, so all we have to do is dig down to it."

"Yes, I'd imagine the bushes on the other end are well grown up by now," Amanda said, a grin spreading across her face. Suddenly, she frowned. "But how are we going to find it on this end?"

Wildfire let out a shriek of laughter. "Did you really think I would do all that work without marking where the tunnel should come up? Really, Amanda, you're not as smart as I thought."

"Oh, shut up," Amanda retorted. "I run my mental processes off the same information you do."

"Yea, yea," Wildfire said, sounding bored. "What else is new?"

"Can we just get to work now?" Amanda begged. Wildfire smacked her forehead.

"Of course!" she exclaimed. She paused and smiled. "I'd say follow me, but... you are me."

"I'd say lead the way," Amanda retorted, "but that would hurt too much, seeing as we can't be separated."

"Right," Wildfire said, her eyes sparkling. She 'led the way' and 'followed herself' to the mark.

"Tepe could help us with this," Amanda said. Wildfire nodded.

"Bullseye!" she yelled. Even across the valley, he could hear her. "Get over here!"

"Damn she has a good voice" Tepe whispers and hops on Orion. He is next to Wildfire and Amanda in the matter of a few minutes. "What now Wildfire?" Tepe asked, trying to keep Orion still. He smiled as he noticed the sparkle of Amanda in Wildfire's eyes

"We need your arms," she told him. He noted that she said we and looked around for Autumn, but Wildfire/Amanda laughed and shook her head. "No, no. Amanda and I need your arms."

"She's right, Tepe," Amanda said. "When we first came here, Wildfire was in almost complete control. She suspected that the valley would be repossessed by the government, so she made preparations to avoid that."

"As you know," Wildfire continued, "I have demolished the original entrance to the valley. It was the only entrance, but we now need to make a new one. When we first came here, I dug a tunnel from the outside. It burrows through the roots of the surrounding mountains and ends in a cluster of bushes on the other end."

"We need to dig down at this mark," Amanda said. "Wildfire marked this as the place the tunnel would come up. If we dig down at a slant," she motioned toward the mountains, "we'll run into the tunnel."

"Grab a shovel and start digging," Wildfire ordered, picking one up herself. "I'll start over on this side of the mark, you start on that side."

"It'll go faster if we work together," Amanda objected. Wildfire shook her head.

"No it won't," she retorted. The same amount of dirt will be displaced at the end of the job."

Tepe watched this exchange in amusement. A split personality can be very entertaining to watch.

"But we'll be throwing dirt into his hole!" Amanda objected. Wildfire rolled her eyes.

"We will not!" she snapped. "We don't have to toss the dirt that way. Over this way works just as well."

They were still arguing as they began to dig.

Tepe watched in amusment as the girl started digging, arguing with herself. Tepe climbed off from his horse and started digging. He was smiling widly.

((Nice to see you got to the computer :D ))

((Ya, it's been a while, but this week is a good week for me to be on. My parents are gone for the week. I'll probably cut back on my time here when they get back. (which reminds me) I've got somewhere to go. Since I don't really have anything else to add here at this time, I'll get off for now. See you later tonight maybe (what time is it where you live?)))

((Something like 20 minutes past midnight. Ok, This is my call to end. [Arnold in Terminator]I'll be back[/Arnold in Terminator]
Oh yeah. My clock's GMT +2 hours so you can count our difference yourself.

P.S. I live in Turku, Finland :D ))

(what? i don't get it, are we stopping the thread or just you guys are just stopping posting for the moment?)

((Still going. I just didn't have anything to add at that time.))


Amanda/Wildfire caught sight of Tepe's grin.

"What's so funny?" Wildfire demanded. Amanda nodded.

"Yes, please, tell us so we can laugh too," she added.

((Wow! this is getting strange. I like it!:D ))

( ok, by the way, your character is messed)
I ride up on the horse
" sorry for interupting, i just wanted permission to take this horse out in the valley, get the horse used to running, may i?"
i look at amanda/wildfire oddly
" hmm, if you don't mind me saying, you seem very strange"

((She is far more messed up than I had originally planned :D ))

"Get used to it," Wildfire growled at Eric. Amanda frowned.

"Be nice," she retorted. Wildfire rolled her eyes.

"Sorry!" she snapped. Amanda looked at Eric apologetically.

"You have no idea how messed up this really is," she said. Wildfire took over and brought her hand up to slap herself in the face.

"Now who's not being nice?" she demanded. The hand immediately began rubbing the face.

"You!" Wildfire screeched. "We're messed up, is that what you think?"

"You know we are," Amanda answered. The head nodded slowly.

"I suppose so," Wildfire said thoughtfully. Another slap to the face, this time on the other side. "Now quit beating us up about it!"

"Owww," Amanda groaned. "You're the one who keeps hitting us."

"Let's just shut up and dig," Wildfire said.

"Agreed." Then, turning to Eric, Amanda said, "Feel free to ride around the valley. I feel you should know that the entrance has been sealed thanks to my meaner side. You'll have to be content with the- ouch!" Her hand came up to rub her cheek again. "I thought you had agreed to knock that off!"

"Not until you apologize," Wildfire retorted. "Your meaner side? Just because I'm tough doesn't mean I'm mean."

"Fine," Amanda pouted. "Just shut up and dig, like we agreed." Turning back to Eric, she said, "As I was saying, you'll have to be content with the valley."

Amanda/Wildfire returned to her digging in silence.

" oh.. well....um thank you, the valley is a nice place, i don't ever want to leave"
Eric then rides out at full speed
" wow, this horse is fast"
over streams and through plains and through forests they ride faster and faster unitl
" stop!"
the horse immediatly stops
" good, i am thirsty, as are you, here drink fomr this stream"
they both bend over and drink form the stream
" ahhh, that was delicious, ok, lets go"
eric jumps on" back to the ranch"
the horse tunra round and back at full speed it takes off, almsot thrwoing off eric, again, through forests,over streams and through flat plains, they safetly arrive back at the ranch, eric puts the horse back in its pen and watches it for a while

Wildfire/Amanda worked in complete silence and was very efficient in the work she was doing. They were making good progress on the digging when suddenly, Wildfire's shovel went into the ground one last time. With a shriek, she disappeared from Tepe's view.

"I think we got it," her voice called up from somewhere. This was followed by a thud and a pained, "Owwww. Remind me not to do that again."

Tepe leaned over to see the hole they made. "You ok, Amanda?" He shouted and climbed up to see better. He tried to see throught the dust cloud in the air but at last he saw her standing up.

Amanda stared up at Tepe and grinned. "Sure, why not? No broken bones that I can feel, just a little bit of a big surprise drop." She laughed. "But, hey, we found what we were looking for, right?"

"Yeah. I'm going to get some rope from my sadle. Wait there!" Tepe shouted and ran to his horse. He took a rope from a small pike in the sadle and ran back. He threw the other end of the rope down and looked Amanda/Wildfire. "What do we do now, Wildfire?" Tepe asked, seeing that Wildfire was looking now around

"Oh, we'll just drop in here to get out of the valley and when we come back with supplies, we'll just use your rope to pull the stuff out," Wildfire answered sarcastically. Then, she started yelling. "WHAT DO YOU THINK WE'RE GOING TO DO??? THROW DOWN A SHOVEL." She attempted to calm down a little. "We have to make this a little more accessible. You work from that end and I'll work from this end."

"OK, OK!!!1!1Ѕ!1" Tepe shouted and throwed doen a shovel, trying to hit Wildfire in the head with the wooden part. He started digging again.

"OUCH!" She looked up out of the hole and rubbed her head. "You did that on purpose!"

She threw one of her boots at his head.

Tepe just got to dodge. "Hey! Take it easy!" He started digging until he noticed he had gotten his side allmost to the same stage as Amanda's/Wildfire's. "Hey! Wildfire! Whats with your side!" Tepe shouted and hit his shovel few inches to the ground.

" umm, excuse me for interupting, but what are you doing? if there is anyway i coudl help, please tell me" eric says wiht sencerity(sp)

For a second, Wildfire/Amanda ignored Eric and called back to Tepe. "How can I tell? There's no way to tell from down here! Oh, and I want my boot back!"

Then, her mind registered what Eric had asked and Amanda's gentler voice called out of the hole. "If you'd like you can grab a shovel and help Tepe finish on that end."

Wildfire's harsher voice was next. "And hurry up with it!"

There was the sound of a slap. "OWWW!!!!"

"Be nice," Amanda's voice was gentle but stern. An angry sigh was followed by Wildfire's angry, "Fine."

"We'll shut up and dig now," Amanda said and did just that.

" yes m'am" eric grabs a shovel and jumps down and starts helping tepe wiht the digging

Tepe rose up and hit his shovel deep into the ground next to the hole. A few hours had passed. Tepe whiped some sweat with his leeve and looked the hole. It had gotten deeper and better to travel throught. He looked down and saw Amanda. "Hey, Amanda, let's rest for a while" he shouted down and leaned on his shovel

Amanda looked up and nodded. "We could use a little rest."

She went into the shade inside the hole and sat down. It was still too deep for her to get out. She looked over her shoulder to the tunnel behind her and was glad the other end was so well hidden. Then, she looked back at Tepe.

"In a few more hours, we'll be able to ride our horses down here," she said.

Tepe nodded and smiled towards Amanda. Then he looked around them and took his shovel from the ground before sitting down. "A few more hours and I can kiss you again..." he smiled as he talked to Amanda

"a few more hours and i can breathe..." eric murmered then got back to digging, he hit a huge boulder
"um, excuse me but it seems there is a boulder here we going to have to dig around it, that'll be a pain"

Amanda stood and walked over to the boulder. She grinned. "It's stuck pretty good here."

"But we know how to get it out of the way," Wildfire said quickly. Amanda's eyes widened and she shook her head.

"I think not," she answered. A long sigh. "You never did like explosives, Amanda."

"You always liked them too much, Wildfire," came the quick reply. Another sigh. "Fine. Tepe get some explosives. It seems that will be the best way to take care of this."

Tepe nodded and walked to his horse and took some dynamite from the saddlebag and soon walked to the boulder. He put the dynamite into a good position and then lit up the fuse. "Ok, fire in the hole!" he shouted and ran into a good safe place like the others. The dynamite exploded, collapsing some of the tunnels roof and destroying the boulder completely. "Ok, it's clear!" Tepe shouted and walked to the hole. "Well, seems like this side is finished" Tepe said, joking and smiling

"hmm, dynamite, very useful, but clumsy at times, not my style, but i guess it works".
Eric shook his head slightly and waited for further instructions.